Bank feeding mechanism for paper feeding machines



Jan. 17, 1939. H. HALLSTREAM 2,144,058

BANK` FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER FEEDING MACHINES Original Filed April 2l, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet l lNvENToR TORNEYQ Jan.`l7, 1939. H. HALLSTREAM 2,144,058

' BANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER FEEDING MACHINES Original Filed Aprill, 1937 5 `Sheetzs--Sheec 2 NVENTOR mm1 Mm BY Jan. 17, 19394. H. HALLSTREAM 2,144,058

BANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER FEEDING MACHINES Original Filed April 21, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 R O T N E V m ORNEY! Jan. 17, 1939. H. HALLSTREAM BANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER FEEDING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed April 2l, 1937 INVENTOR M Mm Bim Jan. 17, 1939. H. HALLSTREAM 2,144,053

BANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PAPER FEEDING MACHINES Original Filed April 2l, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR JMW TOWRNEY:`

Patented Jan. 17, 1939 PATENT oEFlcE BANK FEEDING ME'cnANTsM non PAPER FEEDING MACHINES l Henning Hallstream, Braintree, Mass., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to Dexter Folder Company, Pearl River, N. Y., a corporation of New York 'Original application April 21, 1937, Serial No.

138,119. Divided and this application November 4, 1937, Serial No. 172,728

6 Claims.

This invention relates to bank feeding mechanism for paper feeding machines and has for its object the improvement of the control of such mechanism. The subject matter of this with the loader board removed, with application has been divided from my application, Serial No. 138,119,1f1ed April 21, 1937.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sheet separating and feeding machine operating with a fanned out bank of sheets.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same machine,

parts broken away and parts omitted.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of thel bank feed mechanism, with a part of the side plate broken out for clearness of illustration.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a plan view of one side ofthe bank feed mechanism.

At the topof the machine shown in Figure 1 is a loader board 2 over which travel loader belts 4 trained over rollers 6 and 8 (Figure 2). The roller 6 lis mounted on bearing blocks Ill secured to the forward end of the loader' board, while the roller 8 is mounted upon a shaft I2 journalled in side plates I4. A loader gauge I6 is provided toalign the paper initially upon the loaderl board 2. Between the side plates I4 is a reversing throat of well-known form, represented by a. guide I8, one end of which appears above the .side plates in Figure 1. A crank handle 2 is secured to a shaft 22, the opposite end of which bears a pinion 24 meshing with a gear 26 fixed to shaft I2. By rotating the crank handle 20 from time to time the roller 8 is revolved to feed a bank of paper resting on the loader board 2 in preliminarily fanned out condition down through the reversing throat I8, which further fans out the bank.

The paper is received from the reversing throat by a bank feed table 28, over which travel bank feed belts 30 trained over rollers 32 and 34. The rollers 32 are mounted upon a shaft 36 journalled in bearing. blocks 38 attached to the rear end of bank feed table 28. The rollers 34 are mounted on a shaft 40 journalled in bearings 42 at the forward end of the bank feed table. The shaft 40 is rotated intermittently by the mechanism now to be described, to feed forward the bank of paper resting upon the table 28 and belts 30.

At the left side of the machine there is pivoted upon shaft 40 a rocker arm 44, 'which carries on a pin 46 a pivoted pawl 48 engaging with the teeth 500i a ratchet wheel 52, which is fixed to shaft 40. The pawl is held against the ratchet -wheel by a spring 54' stretched between a pin 56 on the pawl and a pin 58 on the rocker arm 44. The pawl bears a nose 60 which can be grasped to pull the pawl back from contact with ratchet wheel 52, throwing spring 54 above the center of pinV 46, so that the pawl comes to rest in an inoperative position against a pin 62 projecting from the face, of rocker arm 44. The rocker arm 44 is intermittently rocked by a driving mechanism mounted between two side plates 64 and 66 yat the front end of the machine. On a stationary shaft 68 projecting inward from side plate 64 is pivotally mounted a rock lever l0 having a slot l2 in its rear end in which engages Va bolt 'I4 of a link I6 connected by a bolt 18 with rocker arm 44. The forward end of lever is connected by a pin 80 to the lower end of a spring 82, the upper end of which is hooked over a stationary pin 84 on side plate 64. The lever 'lll has a hub 86 from which projects a rigid arm 88 bearing a pin 90 which pivotally supports a roller 92. This roller bears against a cam 94 xed to a shaft 96, which is revolubly mounted in bearings in side plates 64 and 66. The shaft 96 is rotated by a driving mechanism to be described later and cam 94, with the cooperation of spring 82, causes lever 'l0 to rock and oscillate the rocker arm 44, thus turning ratchet wheel 52 by pawl 48 and feeding forward the bank of paper.

The feed of the bank of paper is not continuous, but is interrupted when the leading edge of the bank reaches a certain position at the forward end of the bank feed table. The interruption of the feed of the bank may be effected by a feeler mechanism now to be described.

At the forward end of the bank feed table 28 there extends across the machine between the side plates 64 and 66 a shaft 98, which carries lower delivery rolls |08. Upper drop rolls |02 are mounted upon swinging arms I 04 supported on a shaft |06 pivotally mounted in the side plates 64 and 66. The delivery rolls |00 and |02 receive the paper from the sheet separating mechanism to be described later. On shaft 98, near the center line of the feeder, there -is mounted a bracket |08, which has a depending arm ||0 recessed to fit over stay bolt |I2, and a rearwardly extending arm ||4 provided with a bearing ||6 embracing a shaft IIB, which is mounted between the side plates 64 and 66. The

feeler mechanism includes a trip lever mounted at the center line of the feeder upon a pivot |22 on bracket |08. In addition to its paper engaging arm this lever |20 has a stop arm |24 and a weight arm |26 tending to tip it toward the right' (Figure 3). The upper end ofy the stop arm is positioned so as to lie under the end of an arm |28 clamped to a shaft |30 pivotally mounted in the side plate 64 and bracket |08. 'Ihe shaft has fixed to it' another arm |32 connected at its end to a rod |34. 'I'he upper end of rod |34 is connected at |36 to a lever |38 pivoted upon a shaft |40 mounted between the arms of a bracket |42. The bracket is fixed by set screw |44 upon a stay bolt |46 mounted between the side plates 64 and 66. The outer end of lever |38 bears a roller |48, which rides 'upon a cam |50 mounted upon drive shaft 96.

Lever |38 has an arm |52 extending to the left, the end of which is articulated to a rod |54 guided for vertical movement in a hole in the bottom plate of bracket |42. A compression spring |56 surrounding rod |54 tends to rotate lever |38 clockwise, so thatvits roller |48 constantly rides upon cam |50. The hub |58 of lever |38 has a cam linger |60, which bears against a cam finger |62 of a lever |64 pivotally mounted on a shaft |66 extending across the arms of bracket |42. This lever is held against cam finger |60 by a spring |68 connected at its opposite end to a pin |10 on lever |38. Lever |64 has a downwardly extending arm |12 which cooperates with the outer end of arm 88 to interrupt the rocking motion of that arm at times. The mechanism just described operates in the following mannerz- Assuming the paperfeed mechanism to be in operation, that is, the arm 44 rocking and stepping the ratchet wheel 52 forward, the bank of paper will be advanced until the leading edge of the bankcomes against trip lever |20 and moves it to the left, from its dot and dash line position of Figure 3 to its full line position. This motion swings stop arm |24 to the left and allows arm |28 to rock downward and to the full line position, and rod |34 to descend as roller |48 rides onto the lower part of cam |50. The downward movement of rod |34 and lever |38 attached thereto causes cam nger |60 to swing to the left against cam nger |62, moving the lower arm |12 of leverj|64 over the end of lever 88 blockingits movement. Thus the lever 88 is prevented from following cam 94 and the rocking motion of arm 4 4 is stopped.

When paper has been removed from the bankV suiliciently to allow trip lever |20 to return to the normal position shown in dot and dash lines,the stop arm |24 prevents downward movement of rod |34 and consequently the lever ami |12 remains out of the path of lever arm 88, which is then free to execute its rocking movements under the control of cam 94. The forward feed of the paper is thus resumed and it will be evident that the mechanism will operate in such a way that there will be little variation in the position of the top sheet of the bank of paper.

Means for picking up and feeding forward the top sheet of the bank of paper and driving means for operating such means are well known in the art, and, not being herein claimed per se, are not herein fully described or illustrated. Figures 1 and 2 may therefore be considered as showing, in

addition to parts of the bank feed mechanism above described, essential parts of any known or l preferred form of mechanism for separating the top sheet from the pile and forwarding it to the feed-off rolls |00, |02. The general features of such mechanism on one side of the machine are shown at A and a like structure is implied at B but not illustrated. One of the telescoping shafts 546 transmits motion from the drive shaft 96 to sheet separating and forwarding means operating on the rear edge of the pile, including, as here indicated, combing wheel 512 for buckling the top sheet or sheets of the pile, the sucker gripper 286 oscillating about a shaft 282 for picking up the sheet and forwarding it to feed-oi rolls, and suitable suction and blast nozzles and air and vacuum tubes and controlling valves timed to apply partial vacuum or winding air-pressure as required by the special form of these well-known mechanisms which is adopted. So far as such parts are here shown they correspond with those exhibited in the original application of which this is a division, but any known form which will successively present the sheets to the feed-olf rolls, may be used.

To prevent the sheet of paper which is being fed forward after separation from the bank from riding upon the top of finger |20 and holding the finger toward the left, thus interfering with the normal control of the bank feed, there is provided a nger guard |14 pivoted at |16 on bracket |08 and normally held by a spring |18 attached to its arm |80 so that its upper hooked end |82 overhangs the top of nger |28 and provides a sup- -port upon which the paper can glide as it moves into the delivery rolls |00, |02. If the nger guard y|14 should remain constantly in its full line position, the leading edge of the paper might become hooked under its end |82. To prevent this the guard is momentarily swung to the left to its dot and clash line position, where its end |82 is within the periphery of delivery roll |00. For

this swinging motion the guard is provided with an arm |84 resting upon -an actuating arm |86 xed upon a shaft |88, which is pivoted between side plate 64 and bracket |08 directly under shaft |30. Another arm |90 fixed to shaft |88 is connected by a rod |92 to a. lever |94 which is similar to klever |38, being pivotally supported on shaft |40 and provided at its outer end with a roller |96 which rides upon a cam |98. The roller is pressed against the cam by a spring 200 surrounding guide rod 202 attached at 204 to the left end of lever |94 and guided for vertical movement, in a hole in the bottom plate of bracket |42. The cam |98 is designed to raise lever |94 a moment before the paper begins its forward movement after separation (the drive of this cam being synchronized with that of the sheet separating mechanism), and to hold the lever in its elevated position, with guard |14 swung to the left, until the paper has entered the delivery rolls |00, |02.

The guard |14 is then restored by spring |18 to its normal position over finger |20.

I claim:

1. In a machine for separating sheets of paper, a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank of paper along said table,'means for blocking the operation of the feeding means, a cam, a follower therefor, means controlled by said follower for operating the blocking means to stop the operation of said feeding means, atrip finger projecting into the path of the leading edge of the bank of paper, and means controlled by said finger for withholding said follower from said cam and unblocking the operation of the feeding means.

2. In a machine for separating sheets of paper, a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank of paper along said table comprising an actuating arm operated by a spring in one direction and by a cam in the opposite direction, a second cam, a follower therefor, a stop movable by said follower into the path of said actuating arm to prevent it from being moved by said spring, a trip finger projecting into the path of the leadg edge of the bank of paper, and means controlled by said nger for withholding said follower from said second cam.

3. In a machine for separating sheets of paper, a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank of paper along said table, delivery rolls,

' meansincluding a trip finger in position to be engaged by the advancing front edge of the bank of paper for controlling the feed of the bank, and a guard normally extending over the top of said linger having means for .moving it away from such position timed to operate immediately before e the paper enters the delivery rol-ls.

t 4. In a machine for separating sheets of paper, a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank of paper along said table, meansincluding.

a trip finger in position to be engaged by the advancing front edge of the bank of paper for 'controlling the feed of the bank, means for picking up and feeding forward the top sheet of the bank of paper, driving means for said last means, a movable guard normally extending over said trip finger, and means operated by said driving means for intermittently removing said guard in synehronism with the pick-up and feed of the paper.

5. lIn a machine for separating sheets of paper, a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank of paper along said table, actuating means for said feeding means, means for interrupting said actuating means including a cam, a follower for said cam,.a spring urging said follower against said cam, a stop device connected with said follower, and a trip device normally holding said stop device and preventing said follower from following said cam, said tripdevice being movable by the advancing edge of the bank of paper to release said stop device.

6. The combination with delivery rolls, of means for feeding sheets thereto, comprising a bank feed table, means for feeding a fanned out bank along said table toward said delivery rolls, means for interrupting the operation of said bank feeding means comprising a trip device at the end of said bank feed table adjacent said delivery rolls, a movable guard normally overhanging said trip device, and means for withdrawing said guard Within the periphery of one of the delivery rolls.

HENNINGHALLS'I'REAM. 

